President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has vowed to pursue a crackdown on his
opponents despite Arab leaders’ threats of economic sanctions over his
“bloody repression”.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times, Assad said attacks on the
Syrian army last week showed he was facing armed operations, not peaceful
demonstrations.

“The conflict will continue and the pressure to subjugate Syria will
continue,” he said. “Syria will not bow down.”

He pledged that he would personally fight and die to resist foreign forces.

Assad accused the 22-member Arab League, which suspended Syria last week, of
creating a pretext for western intervention in the country. Military action
against his nation would create an “earthquake” across the Middle East, he
said.